


Fork Tower

by inkycompass



Category: Final Fantasy V
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-11-01 09:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20812502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkycompass/pseuds/inkycompass
Summary: Faris and Krile have to wrestle with some unresolved emotions thanks to the logistical necessities of Fork Tower--whether or not they were particularly interested in doing so.





	1. Faris

They'd named this place Crescent Island, and they'd named the two-pronged tower that had popped up from it Fork Tower. That was the kind of razor-sharp wit you got in these parts. As for the interior, it looked much the same as the other shrines, castles, and towers they'd tramped through on this journey. A heap of masonry, some fancy carvings, and a lot of monsters. This one had novelty value with the whole magic-versus-fighting thing, but Faris was here to get Cid out from under it, and he didn't care about much else.

It took little discussion about who would go where. Lenna was a natural mage, had been from the start. Bartz had taught himself every piece of healing magic either world had to offer. He'd not had much choice, Faris reflected, not after taking up with Captain Faris and Princess Poisoned and Old Man Trouble....

...and Old Man Trouble hadn't ever picked up a spellbook unless he had to. 

Faris watched as his sister joined Bartz on the left side, leaving him with a golden-haired child that barely came up to his shoulder. He shouldn't feel _bad_ that he'd rather go with Lenna. She was his sister, after all. And after what happened to Tycoon... Faris shuddered away from that thought. There were things in the memory of those weeks, feelings she never wanted to look at again. Bartz might be the only one she trusted to keep Lenna safe, but that didn't mean Faris had to like the sight of her walking away. It was that which bothered her, not anything else. 

Faris looked back down at Krile. "Check your gear. We'll split the supplies in half." 

Krile obeyed without argument, tucking her share of the potions and restoratives inside her jacket. Her old man would have groused and complained and made a show of swapping things back and forth until he wound up with just one potion, and then he'd claim not to remember there being any more than that. Hell, he'd kept that up even after the kid had given him back his whole life history. And now she was smiling up at Faris, ready to follow his lead. Faris shook his head as they stepped onto the warp panel. Not for the first time, he wondered how Galuf had ever raised someone like her.

The wind hammered them as soon as Faris pulled open the door--fresh and keen, carrying with it the sweet scent of the ocean. He pulled in a deep breath as Krile rushed past to marvel at the view. "Gosh, look at how high up we are!"

"We are at that." The airship took them higher, but Faris could still appreciate the sight. "You can see the whole of Crescent from here."

"You really can! Although it's more like a bagel now, isn't it?"

Faris groaned. Krile was smiling innocent as a lamb, but he recognized that unrepentant gleam in her eye and punished it with a flick to the forehead. "Bal's going to have a fair bit of difficulty making friends in this world if you keep going around with jokes like that. C'mon. I've already been in one exploding castle and I've no wish to jump off another." Did she even know about Karnak? Faris had never actually thought to ask Galuf how much of their adventures he'd shared with his granddaughter. Now that he thought of it, he hoped there were a few things left out. But thinking of the old man for too long was no good. Unsheathing the katana he favored these days, Faris crossed the parapet and pushed open the next door.

Metal whistled through the air the instant he stepped through, and Faris swung the Masamune to shear through chain. A crash and a thud told him what had been on the end. Thwarted, the foe swung its other ball-and-chain, forcing Faris to duck. A savage grin cut across his face. One of these dueling knights then, like Ronka's. Oversized, overmuscled, they looked very nearly human until you saw the blank ceramic gleam of the eyes. Except you didn't want to look at the eyes, not when that iron ball was coming at you on the backswing. A laugh escaped Faris' throat as he jumped full above the swing. This, this was what the Chancellor wanted him to leave behind? 

Two arrows sprouted from the knight's massive limbs, one arm and one leg. It took the impact stoically, but the arrows impeded the machinery of its muscles, making its movements jerky as it swung a massive fist at Faris' head. He ducked it easily and pressed forward. One hand slashed with the katana. With the other hand he unsheathed a shortsword, driving it into the wound. But legendary as the weapons might be, it took more than one strike to finish it off the massive knight. The shortsword stuck in its abdomen, and Faris realized too late he was in range of one truly massive knee.

His breath roared in his ears as it left his body in one massive gust. He had time to see the top of the knight's head before gravity seized him. The floor seemed to strike him all over, but he'd fallen fast enough to roll and hit even more of him. That hurt, that bloody _hurt_.

Faris knew he didn't have time to lie here like a gutted fish, else he'd soon be a _flattened_ fish. He forced his arms to push him upwards. The shadow of the knight fell over him. Swords, damn it all, he needed his swords--

Something small jumped over Faris. _Zip, zip, zip, zip._ The knight jerked and shuddered. Two of the arrows shot right through the links of the chain, fouling its momentum... on one side.

Faris snatched up the hilt of the Masamune and swung wildly. The razor-thin steel sheared through the knight's foreshortened chain, sending the links rattling across the floor. All thought of recovery forgotten, Faris hurled herself forward, forcing the katana through the knight until it burst out the other side. She stopped yelling--she'd been yelling?--when the sword stuck, pulling her with it as the knight fell onto its back with an earth-shaking _thud._ The light in its hollow eyes went dim.

"Faris! Faris, are you okay? Here, drink this!" Krile fluttered around her like a small anxious bird, helping her up, tugging at her coat, pressing a potion into her hands. Without thinking, Faris put her hands on the girl's shoulders to keep her at bay. She looked like she'd been scared half to death, and indignation rose hot in Faris' chest. 

"What the devil was that?!" The words bounced from the stone, and Krile stepped back. "When you're an archer, you _don't_ jump up in front!"

"But he--it--you got knocked down! He was going to squash you!"

"You think I'd be felled by some oversized bodybuilder?" The look on Krile's face clearly answered _yes_. Faris shook her head and thumped her sternum. "I'm fit as a fiddle. Just hang onto the potion and let's keep going."

"Okay."

The anger still smouldered with no outlet. Dammit, there was no Bartz to say something so that Faris could rib him back, and no Lenna to smooth things over, no... no one who would just keep _on_ arguing until they'd forgotten what it had been about in the first place. Faris glanced back at Krile, with her ponytail and her oversized jacket and that earnest look on her face, and turned to lead them further up. 

He tried to burn away the conflicted feelings through swordstrokes as they fought their way up each floor. Every now and again he called out targets to Krile--"the throat!" or just "eyes!" when she hesitated to take a lethal shot. That was something all the others had needed to learn--pirate that Faris was, he'd never been troubled by taking down the man-shaped ones. Another emerged from the shadows, and Faris leaped too quickly to intercept it, catching a painful fist to the shoulder. He set his teeth against the pain and surged forward to keep it occupied anyway. He had to if Krile was to have the cover she needed to shoot, with only the two of them there. Krile pressed a potion on him again, and this time he swigged it down gratefully. That did for the bruises and cuts, but bottled healing couldn't dismiss the fatigue from his muscles. The lightweight steel of the katana turned slowly to lead as he swung it over and over, and when they at last arrived at a floor clear of monsters, Faris heaved a sigh.

If the towers were mirrors, Lenna and Bartz would be on a floor like this, taking a breather--and that meant he and Krile ought to as well. Faris kicked the lone treasure chest to ensure it wasn't harboring a monster and sat down, cleaning blood and guts off his weapons while the burning ache ebbed from his limbs. He eyed Krile from underneath his brows as she restrung her bow and counted the arrows left in her quiver. She'd taken a few bruises too, his own fault for not being quick enough to intercept them, but she seemed to be otherwise unhurt. But he'd looked for too long, and caught her eye. "Are you feeling okay, Faris?"

"What? 'Course I am. We don't want to outstrip the others, remember?"

"If you say so." Krile finished affixing the new string to her bow and eyed him again, the impish smile returning. "Only that's a treasure chest you're sitting on."

Faris tensed and looked down at his seat. Hell's bells! He really _was_ out of it to go and leave a prize unopened. He jumped up and swung the lid open. An impressive sword lay inside on a bed of velvet--he felt Krile walk up behind him to look, too. It must have been here since the worlds were split a thousand years ago, but it gleamed like the display on a blacksmith's wall. "Just what we need, eh?" he said, trying to keep the embarrassment from his voice and mostly succeeding. "Another weapon."

Krile giggled as she reached in, hefting the blade as competently as she held her bow. "It's not legendary and there probably aren't twelve of them, but it does look useful." A faint sheen, some sort of enchantment, illuminated a contemplative expression. "I think I should switch to this the rest of the way up."

Faris shook her head at once. "There's no need. You've plenty of ammo left."

"But you keep taking the brunt of everything," said Krile. "And there's just us two, so I don't have enough cover to shoot anyhow. The more time I have to spend ducking, the longer every fight takes."

"I can handle it." She couldn't exactly meet that look Krile gave her, though. If Faris had a gil for every time one of their little band said the words _I'm fine_ just before falling over, she could retire from the seas. And treasure chests aside, she knew she was running out of steam. She'd racked up more bruises over five floors than she usually earned in five days. Krile was a tough cookie. Maybe even tougher than Faris had been at fourteen, in some ways. She was talking sense. Yet something in Faris resisted. "Look, we've been through longer and tougher treks. Don't stick your chin out just to save me a few hits."

"I can use a sword." She sounded a little hurt. "I did when I was with Bartz. And I used a spear in--" she broke off, and Faris looked away. Right, Krile had been a Dragoon all through that hideous castle. But with the spear, most things could be kept at a distance, and she'd spent most of her time up in the air anyway. Not so susceptible to getting tossed into walls or getting clawed open by bears... though Faris had certainly seen all of them do that, especially the old man. Hell, getting clawed open by bears and roaring back into battle had pretty much been his _trademark._

Still, Faris couldn't make herself like the notion. "Let me see that, eh?" She inspected the delicate engraving on the blade. _I am the shield._ That gave her a pretty good idea of the nature of the spell on it. A couple of swings confirmed the notion, and Faris turned the blade back and forth. If the kid had to go back to fighting in front, she could at least do it with a weapon that would do some of the work of looking out for her. "All right, here."

They stayed on the unoccupied floor long enough to drink some water and eat a little food to fuel them on the rest of the climb. "You want to have a sit?" Faris asked, but Krile shook her head, saying she was fine. Faris hoped that was the case. But he didn't want to linger too long when the rest of the tower needed climbing. There was no sense leaving Bartz and Lenna to wait at the top of their side. "Right, let's go."

Fighting their way up the rest of the floors went both quicker and easier with Krile as a swordswoman, Faris had to admit to himself. Every so often the new sword would move of its own accord, blocking a sickle or a massive fist. That went a long way towards making him breathe easier. Maybe he had been a bit silly. Since when had Krile shown herself as anything but capable? Even before, she had been there on Big Bridge and flying meteors and whatnot. Hard to say why he'd been so reluctant to go up with her, Faris thought as they reached the top floor and entered the chamber.

The Holy spell floated above a plinth, glinting silvery blue. That was all Faris had time to take in. The chamber shook as a pair of massive hooves landed on the floor. He wrinkled his nose at the sour-beer stink of the thing's breath as it bellowed. "Come out to play then, have you?" Faris roared in reply.

It answered by swinging a mace the size of Krile herself. The only thing to do was get out of the way as it smashed into the flags. Chips of stone flew everywhere. With a quick gesture, Faris sent Krile to run around its back. The minotaur freed its weapon with a jerk and swung again. Faris ducked under the massive arm and slashed with both blades. "Cut 'im up!" Krile's new sword flashed. The minotaur roared and twisted, waving its arm behind as if swatting a fly. Krile yelped and tumbled into view. In response, Faris stuck the shortsword into its arm. Before he could ask if Krile was okay, she was on her feet and pushing forward again. Galuf's trademark, Faris thought. 

The minotaur limped as it moved towards him with a low growl. Faris ducked beneath its bulging arms and thrust the Masamune. The minotaur's breastplate could only offer minimal resistance to the ancient steel. The blade punched into flesh, more yielding than the iron knight's. It sheared to the side as the minotaur hollered and kicked out with a huge hoof. Faris laughed even as he danced back, smarting where it had caught his leg.

_Wham._ The huge mace slammed into the flagstones again. Chips of shale flew everywhere. A sting on his cheek and a trickle of blood--not enough to stop Faris. He slashed at the nearest moving thing. The Holy spell quivered as the minotaur bellowed. When it spun to face him again, its tail lay limp on the floor. "You--" it panted as it dragged itself towards Faris. Its wounds were beginning to tell, leaving more and more blood on the floor. A flash of gold and steel snapped its attention back away from Faris. Lifting its arms, the minotaur drove the butt end of its weapon into Krile. Her gasp struck Faris' ears like a knife. He saw the creature's muscles bunch for the swing.

Like hell.

As his legs coiled and sprang forward, different parts of Faris' mind began yelling, like a crew of sailors trying desperately to claw away from the reef as the ocean pushed them towards it. He could stab it in the leg, he could cut its arm or its wrist, he could throw something, the kid's new sword was already moving to parry. But as the microseconds turned each of those options vanished. He skidded to a halt in front of Krile. The spikes of the mace glinted and flashed as they sped towards him, faster than his arms could move. One, two... five, punching through his coat, through his ribs, through the things inside. He tried to yell. A bubbling gasp came out and then his stomach dropped as he rose, _flew_, from the spikes. A final crash as he hit the wall, a resounding crack through his skull, and that was all.

* * *

Fire coursed from his heart down his arms and legs. His hands, burning with energy, tightened around the hilts still in his grip and he scrambled to his feet. A wild look around showed nothing but stone walls and the Holy spell twinkling over its plinth. And then something slammed into him, wrapping around his waist. "Neptune's b--Neptune's beard!" Faris tried drawing back, but she'd wrapped around him like a vine. He held his arms out awkwardly, hands full as they were with sharp metal. "By the deep, Krile, let go." As her grip loosened, Faris took a careful breath. "What's all this, eh?"

"You--I--" Krile stopped, taking a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Tearing a piece from the minotaur's shirt, Faris went about cleaning her swords, not sure how to look at her. She could just about help Lenna feel better. She didn't know what to do with Krile. But the silence, punctuated by a badly-muffled sniff, weighed down. Looking up, she saw Krile had turned away, arms tightly pressed into her sides. "You're like to sprain something that way," Faris said, the first thing that came into her head. Speaking of her head... Faris gingerly touched the back of it and felt the sticky wetness of blood. "I don't see why you're apologizing. I'm the one who got himself bashed into a wall."

"Because I--if I was stronger, I'd have kept you from almost dying!"

"You'd have stopped me being reckless, would you? That's not in anyone's power." Faris looked at the scraped-up reflection in the Masamune and drove the blade home in its sheath. "You did a good job, taking that thing down after it did for me. Your granddad--" the words came out before Faris could stop them and Krile turned, the eagerness in her eye overcoming distress.

"What about Grandpa?"

There was nothing for it. She'd started the sentence and she had to finish it. "He'd have bellowed louder than that cow. And I'd have bellowed right back, too."

A faint smile appeared on the girl's face. "He would have, huh? Something like--_Tarnation! It's take the bull by the horns, not get skewered _on_ them!_"

"Aye, exactly like." Faris grinned in spite of herself. "They'd have heard it from the other half of the tower."

"You miss him, don't you."

Faris went rigid. Miss him? _Miss_ him? What a daft thing to say. Of course she missed him. She looked at Krile and then looked at the wall. What in the world was she supposed to say to that kind of observation? Did Krile expect her to take all the feelings that were colliding together and put them into words? She rubbed at her ribs, still hot and stinging from the phoenix down. Tangling with that minotaur again would be better than finding the end of this conversation. 

"Is that why you--" Krile sounded hesitant, as though she was searching for the right word. "I mean... with me. Is that why you act like you do?"

Faris' head jerked up. "The devil do you mean by that?"

"You know... funny."

"I don't act funny!" 

"Yes you do!" Krile's indignation bounced off the walls. "You weren't like that before."

"_Before?_" Faris shot Krile a sharp look and paced away. "Before Moore, you mean? Or before Tycoon? Or before Ronka? Between Galuf, and Lenna, and Papa, and Syldra--I don't know what the devil to do with you, but at the very least I'll keep you from ending up like the rest of them!"

Krile's eyes widened. She pressed her hands to her heart, as though she was trying to hold the feelings there. "That's why you kept fussing over me?"

Faris' gesticulations halted. He stared at Krile numbly, without tears. He had shed none since he was a boy--since he'd learned to be one. Neither boys nor men said this sort of thing out in the open. Certainly not Captain Faris Scherwiz, terror of the high seas. But it had been a long time since he had only been that. Faris shook her head, leaning one-armed against the wall. "You heard what I said under the Guardian Tree. No more sacrifices."

"Fine... but that means you too, okay?" Her bony little finger prodded Faris in the ribs. "I don't know what to do with you either, but you--you can't go dying like that. You're all I've got left."

One thing that could be said about Krile: she knew how to take the wind out of your sails. Faris waited until she'd started breathing again before speaking. "Suppose I can't say no to that." She reached out and ruffled Krile's hair. "I miss him, aye. And neither of us will end up like the rest." A movement caught her eye: Bartz waving his red cape on the other tower. Faris chuckled, wondering how long he'd been trying to get their attention, and waved back. "Come on. We'd best grab that spell before he comes over to yell at us."

Krile giggled. About damn time, Faris thought, as they climbed over the minotaur's body. The Holy spell sparkled on its plinth, expectantly. "Ready? One... two... three!"


	2. Krile

Krile looked at the two warp panels separating the paths of the tower. The wild, pell-mell flight from the ruins of Ronka after the Earth crystal had gone weighed rather heavy on her mind at this moment. "If the spells aren't taken from both towers at the same time, the towers explode, right?"

Bartz nodded, rubbing his chin. "I guess we'd better split up, then. Let’s see... left is magic, right? That's going to be me and Lenna."

Krile opened her mouth to protest but shut it quickly. No, of course. She’d studied magic back home, but the first crystals she'd used were the ones Grandpa had. And as Grandpa had never been much for spellwork, that meant being a Dragoon, or a Samurai, or calling on belligerent animals as a Ranger. Faris was good at magic and melee, but so far Krile had never seen her fight in a way that didn't include the option of getting close to something and bashing its face in. The two of them had been the hard-hitting ones most of the time since Castle Exdeath; it wasn't as though partnering with her would be new. That was what Krile told herself as they divided their supplies. 

She shut her eyes as the warp panel whisked them up. The worries inching through the back of her mind vanished when she opened them and gasped at the view. The parapet was higher than any building, even the dragonloft at Castle Tycoon. She ran over for a better look. The landscape spread beneath them, full of emerald hues and rich blue seas. Even though they'd flown over such brilliant colors on the wind drake’s back and the airship later, Krile relished seeing it stationary for once, not rushing past before she could get a good look. It was so different from the broken mountains and monster-infested marshlands that had surrounded Bal before the worlds combined. "Gosh, look at how high we are!" 

"We are at that," said Faris, wandering over. "You can see the whole of Crescent from up here."

"You can!" Krile giggled as she looked at the circular island with its tiny new inland sea. "Although now it's more like a bagel, isn't it?"

Faris groaned and flicked her in the forehead for that one. "Bal's going to have a fair bit of difficulty making friends in this world if you keep going around with jokes like that. C'mon. I've already been in one exploding castle and I've no wish to jump off another." Krile nodded in emphatic agreement. She didn't want to have to bolt all the way down eight floors again. She was about to say as much, but she remembered that had been the day King Tycoon died, and kept quiet.

The guardians of the tower emerged the moment Faris opened the door to the next level. Well, one guardian, but he was big enough to be plural. Faris laughed and plunged in, slicing through his ball-and-chain without hesitating before Krile could even aim her bow. As Faris drove the giant back through the door, Krile shot one of his massive biceps, then a leg. His throat was hidden by the furred collar of his cape, but really, it was hard to shoot anything that looked like a human. 

But as Krile watched intently for another opening, something went wrong. Faris jerked, unable to free one of her weapons. It gave the dueling knight the moment he needed. Within the space of a second Faris went flying and crashed to the ground like a sack of bricks. Her swords clattered out of reach. The knight took a floor-shaking step towards her and whirled his chain, ready to smash her flat as she struggled to rise and regain her equilibrium.

Krile couldn't let that happen.

She jumped right over Faris, firing four shots in quick succession. They tangled through the links of the chain, destroying its momentum. The knight drew back confounded. But as Krile pulled another arrow from her quiver, the gleam of metal in its other hand caught her eye. The second chain might have lost its weight, but it would still hurt--and then metal glinted from the floor as the length of the Masamune rose, slicing through the bolas as it spun. Krile ducked as the links flew and smashed into the wall behind her. Faris rose like some avenging sea monster, roaring as she forced the length of the katana slowly but inevitably through the knight. His eyes dimmed as he fell backwards, taking her with him.

"Faris!" Krile gasped and dropped her bow. She hurried to pull Faris up--it was just luck the knight hadn't landed on top of her. "Faris, are you okay?" Krile asked urgently and pulled a potion out of her jacket as Faris struggled for footing. It didn't look like she was bleeding, but that didn't mean she was unhurt. "Here, drink this!"

Faris, one hand on the embedded Masamune to keep her balance, focused on the potion and then rounded on Krile. "What the devil was that, eh?!" Krile stepped back from the fire in her glare. "When you're using the bow, you _don't_ jump up front!"

"But he--it--you got knocked down! He was going to squash you!"

"You think I'd be felled by some oversized bodybuilder?" Faris' expression softened, and she thumped a hand against her chest. "I'm fit as a fiddle. Just hang onto that potion and let's keep going."

"Okay." In spite of the shouting, Krile breathed easy. Faris yelling about tactics meant she wasn't badly hurt. But she looked like there was something she wanted to say. Or maybe she was waiting for Krile to? But Krile couldn't think of anything to add to it, and the relief stretched into tension as Faris turned on her heel and resumed the climb. 

Krile trotted after her, uncertain how to break the smothering silence. Okay, she'd been a little reckless, but only in the normal give-and-take of battle. They were all guilty of that sometimes. More than sometimes in Faris’ case. And she was proud, but just suggesting a potion usually didn't make her angry. If it was anger... no... Faris did sometimes go quiet. Not the way she'd been in the Pyramid, marching ahead in driving silence as she vented her grief on every monster that came into view, but quiet nonetheless. Usually there was Lenna to unwind the strain with her gentle manner, or Bartz to keep up a conversation until Faris came back from whatever she was hung up on. Grandpa must have had his own ways, too, but Krile wasn't equal to being that obnoxious.

Oh. 

That was it. 

She’d been waiting for an argument with Grandpa.

The insight kept Krile from whatever she might have attempted, in a silence no longer taut but leaden. The next words spoken were instructions barked from Faris as they met with more of the tower's guardians--one or two-word orders, calling out targets. The giant knights and wrestlers were tough, but not impossible. Worst were the packs of grey-skinned berserkers with smiles as sharp and curved as their blades. Krile had to jump fast to keep away from the whirling sickles, barely able to shoot as she dodged and ducked. The next time she offered a potion, Faris took it without a word and gulped it down.

Krile needed to say something, but Faris kept pushing up each flight of stairs, seemingly intent on nothing but cutting down every foe in their path until they reached the top. Bartz would have known what to say, but not wanting to provoke Faris again, Krile buckled down and did her best with the shooting. She swallowed her discomfort in killing human figures (albeit unnatural, oversized ones) and aimed at every eye and throat that she could reach, shooting through hands and leg muscles when necessary to arrest their movements. It helped, but Krile couldn't prevent every attack, and she could see that however stubborn Faris was, she was nonetheless flagging. Clipped by a fist here, a sickle there, each hit told a little more. 

She was ready to speak up and risk Faris' temper when they came to a floor empty of monsters--to her immense relief, Faris was the one who sat down first, plopping down on the lone treasure chest without even looking to see what was inside. Krile set to looking after her gear, tightening the bowstring and checking on her supply of arrows. Inspiration struck, and she gave Faris a sidelong look. "Are you feeling okay, Faris?"

"What? Course I am." Faris leaned back against the wall. "We don't want to outstrip the others, remember?"

Oh, right, of course. "If you say so." Krile grinned at her as she finished up with her bow. "Only that's a treasure chest that you're sitting on."

Worried though she was, Krile couldn't help but giggle at the horror that crossed Faris' face--she couldn't jump up faster if she was stung by a bee. Krile came up to look at the faint glow that emerged from the treasure chest. A sword... she glanced up at Faris, and then reached in to pick it up. It was a good weight as she hefted it, it looked sharp, and it felt magic. "It's not legendary and there probably aren't twelve of them, but it does look useful..." She stepped back, weighing the feel of it in her hand again. "I think I should switch to this the rest of the way up."

"There's no need. You've plenty of ammo left."

The answer came too quick to have been considered. "But you keep taking the brunt of everything," Krile argued. "And since there's just two of us, I don't have enough cover to shoot anyhow. The more time I have to spend ducking, the longer every fight takes."

"I can handle it." It was said with the same stubborn finality that Faris or Lenna would occasionally speak the words _I'm fine,_ an obvious lie that they still insisted on repeating. That must have shown on Krile's face, because Faris' next words came in a slightly more conciliatory tone. "Look, we've been through longer and tougher treks. Don't stick your chin out just to save me a few hits."

Don't stick your chin out? So this wasn't stubborn pride. Faris _wanted_ her to keep back, to stay out of the way. She couldn't argue back the way that Grandpa could, so did Faris think she couldn't fight as well either? "I can use a sword," she said. "I did the whole time I was with Bartz. And I used a spear in--" 

Maybe she wasn't as tough as Grandpa after all if she couldn't even name Castle Exdeath without having to catch her breath. But she had, all the same, and Faris had seen that. Grandpa had been a Dragoon when he'd fought Exdeath... Krile had stepped into those shoes, and nobody had told her to step out of them, to be a mage or a bard or someone else who was supposed to stay far from the enemy. That had been with all four of them there. Why did Faris not think she could fight now?

Faris sighed and held out a hand. "Let me see that, eh?" Krile handed over the sword. After weighing its feel herself, Faris gave it back with a grunted assent. Relieved, Krile put the bow away and gave the sword a couple of swings, getting her arm used to the weapon again. _I am the shield,_ the inscription said. She'd have to find out what that meant as she used it--and best to get started right away. Ronka kept popping up in her mind. What if it wasn't taking the spell, but just reaching it that mattered? When Faris asked if she wanted to take a break, Krile immediately answered no. That was due in part to Faris intercepting everything; Krile really was fine. But she looked narrowly as Faris got up, searching for any sign that she ought to stay sitting. For all that Faris complained about Lenna pushing herself too hard, Krile saw it for what it was: an inherent flaw in the Tycoon line.

When Faris drew her swords again, Krile was glad to stand alongside her to fight. She didn't have to keep running backwards or ducking away for two uninterrupted seconds to take her aim properly. She could rush right in, running around the other side of the tower's guardians to slash at their limbs and jab at unarmored spots as Faris kept them busy face to face. The automata spun and flailed. If they succeeded in parrying, they couldn't get off the back foot. If they stayed on the offensive, they took a dozen cuts trying to land one solid hit. Krile and Faris darted around them, never in the same place for an entire second together. Standing over a defeated monster, Faris ran an eye over her. "Where'd you learn to move that fast? You're quicker than I am." 

"Gosh." Having Faris admit that someone was better than her at something was astonishing enough. That she was saying it to _Krile_ stuck her for an answer--she couldn't think of a teasing remark to toss back. "All that running after Grandpa to keep him out of trouble, I suppose."

Faris' eyes widened slightly. For a moment Krile thought she'd made a mistake by mentioning him, but then Faris laughed and ruffled her hair. "Aye, that makes sense. Let's keep going."

The spell on Krile's new sword revealed itself soon enough. Her arm suddenly moved, pulling her around on her heel. The blade flung itself above her head just as the curved blade of a berserker's sickle came down, clashing off of it. Without even thinking about it, Krile stepped forward and drove the sword through its chest herself. She swallowed down a lump of nausea at its expression as it fell.

The more floors they climbed, the more relaxed she felt. (Vicious monsters notwithstanding.) Faris stopped snapping out her instructions. She grinned at Krile approvingly and even tossed off a joke or two. It was more like the Faris that Krile had known from the start, the one from Grandpa's stories and the one she'd met on the dragonloft, immediately asking about dragongrass when Krile told them of the wind drake’s wounds. And as Faris hacked and slashed her way through the tower's guardians, Krile could guess it had nothing to do with the spells at the top--she was here to save her engineer friend no matter what. Krile hoped he would be okay. Oh, sure, another way to hit Exdeath and his demons was always a good thing to have in your pocket. But though she'd only known Mid long enough for him to tell them what had happened, she hadn't needed longer than that to see that Cid was to him what Grandpa had been to her. She wouldn’t let anyone else lose that, not if she could possibly help it.

That was what was on Krile's mind when they finally reached the final chamber. The power of the spell radiated outward from the door, immaculate and ruthless, and she suppressed a shudder. It was called Holy, but she had first seen its sanctified light in the Guardian Tree, excoriating her grandfather in Exdeath's futile bid to defeat him. She didn't think she wanted to use that _or_ Flare.

But the spell's guardian thundered into view before she could think any more on that topic. Krile raised her sword as the huge minotaur roared into their faces, and Faris roared right back. When it smashed its weapon into the floor, Krile took the chance to run around the back of it. She could hardly reach her sword above its legs, but at least they weren't armored. And unlike the dueling knights, the minotaur's limbs were true flesh and blood. She found that out when she slashed its thigh and sent a spray of blood across the floor.

The minotaur's massive hand smacked into her. With a yelp, Krile hit the floor, somehow managing not to cut herself on her sword. She scrambled back up the instant she could. The thing was way too big for Faris to fight alone for any length of time. Ignoring the pain from her new bruises, Krile pushed forward again to keep stabbing and slashing at everything in reach. But the size of its mace made speed almost irrelevant. She ducked its massive spiked head as the minotaur took a swing and somehow got in the way of its hoof.

"I'm okay!" she said to Faris' yell of inquiry. Though she wasn't sure she was. The hoof was big enough to catch her in the thigh, and the hip, and her ribs. And all three of those were definitely not happy about still moving. She patted her pocket for a potion, but she'd used them all up. Was there time to ask for one? No, Faris would reckless herself to death if Krile didn't get back in. Because Faris was still fighting it face-to-face. And yes, Faris was quick, and her swords were sharp. But so were the spikes.

Before Krile could get another strike in, the mace swung, scoring Faris across the chest. Faris reeled backwards and the minotaur stepped forward to close the gap. Krile didn’t think as she pushed her screaming legs into motion. They had phoenix downs, but what good were those? If that failed, there would be no other way. White magic didn’t work on this side of the tower. Krile saw the inside of the Guardian Tree all over again. Grandpa had been everything to her, the unshakable pillar that her life revolved around. Now her world was supported by these three--Bartz's breezy unworry, Lenna's deep determination, and Faris' burning fortitude. Krile couldn't let any of them fall.

She yelled to get the minotaur’s attention. Not a word, there was no time for words. She didn’t have the reach to get it in anything vital. She didn’t have the means, either. A Dragoon’s jump would take her away long enough to squash Faris. So Krile just stabbed at its thighs over and over. At the edge of her vision Faris moved, running forward, shouting something. It looked like she wasn’t that hurt after all. Then the minotaur, temporarily freed by Krile’s distraction, swung its mace.

Krile went tumbling again.. White fire exploded in her ribcage when she tried to rise this time. Her hand, clutching at it involuntarily, came away bloody and red. She tried to draw a breath and choked on the pain. The minotaur stepped forward and kicked her again, and her sword went clattering out of her hand. She could hear Faris yelling, saw her move, but the minotaur stepped between them. It picked her up. It threw her down. And that was all.

* * *

A phoenix down was designed to get a body on its feet and into battle right away. Even an instant still on the ground could be fatal... again. That was why Krile tried to jump right up as soon as the heat of the plume surged through her veins. Something restrained her. Fingers dug into her shoulder as she tried to break free. "_Hold still,_ damn your eyes!"

Krile stopped moving. Angry words, but Krile saw the panic in Faris' wide green eyes. She looked down. She didn't realize there had been that much blood. "Oh... golly."

"_Golly._" Faris' hold relaxed a little, allowing Krile to sit up. "There’s a few words more fitting, but why don't we stick with that one."

Krile looked around. There was the minotaur. Or rather what was left of it, a huge pile of badly-butchered beef oozing all over the floor. She swallowed and looked away.

"Think you can get back on your feet?"

"Oh, of course." Krile started to stand up, but Faris' arm tightened around her again.

"Except you'd say that whether you did or not, wouldn't you."

"You do that too," Krile said accusingly. "And Lenna."

"So what makes you think we're role models?" Krile squirmed a little. Faris' grip remained firm. "Why the hell didn't you say you needed a potion?"

"I--well, I--" Why? Krile didn't want to say. Because it wasn't usually a problem. Because Bartz always threw one to her whenever he saw her flagging. And after realizing that Faris was going out of her way to shield her? She ought to know that Krile could fight. But if she still thought Krile wasn't tough enough after all this time, what else could she do but prove it with her actions? 

"We're staying here until you give me an answer, kiddo."

Leaving Bartz and Lenna to wait on the other side? There was no telling how long they had. She had to say it, then. "I have to be strong. I have to show you I'm as strong as him." Much as she didn't feel any kind of strength at the moment.

The groan Faris let out practically made the tower tremble. "Kiddo, your granddad never so much as got a scratch without he'd moan and groan the whole rest of the way up the mountain."

Krile, startled, finally looked up to meet Faris' eye. "Really?"

"Where do you think all those dings in the Healing Staff came from?" 

"He said that was from using it on you."

"Aye, well... he did do that." Faris rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. "The point is, he never pretended he was fine when he wasn't. Thought we told you that once already."

"I have a hard head too."

Faris chuckled. It was a warm sound, rising from the heart, and Krile couldn't help but laugh with her, sore as she was.

And then, without warning, both of Faris' arms were around her, pulling her into a tight hug. Krile's eyes widened in shock. Faris would ruffle her hair or jostle her by the shoulder, but she had never hugged Krile like this. She hardly even hugged Lenna this way, except after their father's death, and Melusine.

Which said something about now, didn't it?

It might be shocking, but Krile did know the thing to do with a hug, and that was to return it in kind. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She leaned her head on Faris' shoulder. "I'll say something sooner next time."

"Too right you will," said Faris. "You have any idea what he'd do to me if you turned up in the afterlife?"

Krile grinned. "I don't even want to imagine."

Faris let go of her at last, leaning back to look her in the eye. "Listen, kiddo. I know you're here to fight in his place. But don’t push yourself off a damn cliff. You're already strong enough. Don't trouble yourself about that."

Krile nodded. She felt dizzy, and not just because of the things the phoenix down hadn't fixed. Faris never talked like this. She didn’t know that she had wanted Faris to talk like this until now. Faris was so tough, so... undaunted, no matter what the obstacle. Krile had learned by now that was partly because Faris tried to hit unwelcome truths with a sword until they turned into ones she liked better. But nevertheless it was hard not to want to live up to that.

She looked over Faris' shoulder at the Holy spell. "I guess we'd better signal the others, huh? We don't want to keep them waiting too long."

"Right you are." Faris helped her to her feet, and Krile leaned on her arm willingly as they went to the open window and waved at Bartz and Lenna on the other side. They waved back.

"Ready?" said Faris, taking up station on one side of the plinth.

"Ready!"

"All right then." Faris grinned. "One, two, three!"


End file.
